Tempting Faete
by calisunset
Summary: A sequel to "Two Weeks In The Woods". AU: Four years have passed since the events of that fateful summer night, and our favorite ladies are about to embark on a new adventure as they continue to cope with the ramifications of what happened back at the cabin. Doccubus.
1. Lauren

**_Tempting Faete_**

**Lauren (Chapter 1)**

The thin, striking, blonde woman moved with purpose as she carefully mixed the two dangerous compound components together in the beaker before her. She held her breath momentarily as she turned up the flame on her bunsen burner. The chemicals began to swirl as the light blue liquid began to turn a brilliant shade of violet as it bubbled, eliciting a smile from the blonde as she exhaled. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to find one of her lab assistants smiling at her from behind a pair of safety goggles.

The girl had striking green eyes that stood out even behind the thick layer of protective plastic the goggles provided, and the girl absentmindedly tucked a stray piece of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear as she smiled shyly at the woman in front of her.

"You wanted me to remind you when it was six?" The girl said in a high-pitched voice.

The blonde drew her brows together.

"Is it six already Lucy?" She asked as she looked over to the opposite end of the lab where an old circular analogue clock with a dusty black plastic frame perched on the wall, the smaller hand pointing to the six and the larger to the slightly faded number twelve. She turned back to the heating liquid in front of her. "I am really close on this, it shouldn't be too much longer."

The girl's grin broadened as she looked on at her mentor.

"You also told me to keep pestering you and not to let you get stuck here again." The girl shook her head at her boss's antics.

"Right, but I wasn't on the brink of a major medical breakthrough when I said that." The woman didn't even bother to look up from her work as she began to stir the mixture in front of her.

The girl let out a small chuckle. "You said and I quote, _'Do not let me stay past six o'clock, it is a very important day, regardless of any breakthrough in my ongoing research pry my…'_" she cleared her throat, "_'cold, dead, rigger riddled hand from the desk, and kick me out the door.'_"

The blonde stilled her movements as a smirk twitched in the corner of her mouth, she had said that hadn't she?

"Besides," The girl added biting her lower lip, "you practically live here anyway Lauren, what's one night?"

The blonde turned and cast her eyes to the ceiling in a half roll as she smiled at the pretty girl in front of her removing her own safety goggles and placing them on the counter next to her experiment.

"You are absolutely correct. You see, this is why you're my best intern." The blonde laughed, she patted the girl on the shoulder as she moved passed her toward the door. "Would you mind watching that for the next half hour and keeping detailed notes on any changes? Stir occasionally." The blonde slid the pristine white lab coat off her shoulders, revealing a white oxford button-down shirt and tight black jeans. She grabbed her brown leather jacket from the coat hook and her leather shoulder bag as she replaced them with the lab coat.

"You got it Doctor Lewis." The girl said with a wink, earning her a second eye roll from the blonde.

"Not a doctor yet Lucy." She called out as she made her way out the door.

She walked down a flight of stairs and through the stark, clean medical building before pushing large mahogany doors open, being greeted by a gust of crisp autumn air. Though it was only early September it seemed as though fall and winter would be coming earlier this year than it had the last few.

The woman stretched out her jacket and shrugged it on. Her hair became trapped under the collar as she unconsciously raised her left arm allowing cool steel fingers to free her blond tresses. As she fluffed her hair she caught a glimpse in her peripheral vision of the metallic fingers and red wiring encased in a thick clear synthetic, with medical grade steel joints connecting where knuckles should be. The blonde scowled slightly before dropping her hand back to her side, and pulling her jacket sleeve down to cover most of the _hand_.

She took a deep breath in, thinking back on the past four years as she glided across the bustling campus, allowing herself to glance up every now and then to take in the beauty of the tall trees that's leaves were beginning to change in color across the historic campus.

After the events at Hale's uncle's cabin she had completely thrown herself into school, and working on inventing a fully working, fully feeling hand after she had become disheartened with the technology and prosthetics that were available at the time. She had had countless doctors and specialists tell her that what she was trying to create only existed in the future worlds of science fiction, and that it would be unlikely that she would ever become the surgeon she desired to be with or without a miracle robot appendage. So naturally the blonde spent countless hours pouring over textbooks, articles, and every bit of research material she could get her _hand_ on, creating countless prototypes until she finally found one that suited her liking.

She had suffered quite a bit of nerve damage, but was able with the help of a Peripheral Nerve Neurosurgeon out of Johns Hopkins to repair every last bit of loss and properly wire the nerves directly into the mechanical arm she had created.

The surgery was risky, but when she came out the other end a victor, multiple pharmaceutical corporations along with the Canadian and United States governments came to her to buy her patent and fund her research.

She had negotiated quite well for a woman of twenty-one with no business experience and only just about to receive her undergraduate degree. She now had enough money to fund all the research projects her heart ever desired, and would never have to worry about her finances again. But she kept her head about her and lived modestly.

After graduating a year early from University of Toronto she had decided on attending Yale University for her masters and doctorate. She had completed her Masters degree in only one year as opposed to two, and was now taking her time in her second year of medical school. Although for her, taking her time really meant going at the normal pace, and taking on multiple research projects on the side. Her current passion was trying to create an injectable serum that would repair long term tissue and ligament damage, and she kept hitting walls, well, more like occasionally exploding walls given the semi combustible chemicals she had been dealing with as of late.

As she reached the parking lot she retrieved the keys to her white Toyota Prius C from her shoulder bag. As she slid into the comfortable leather seat a sad smile crossed her lips. She thought about the determined look in Bo's eye when she had told her that she was going to move to the states and go to Yale. The brunette's first impulse was to immediately hop on the computer and research neighboring colleges to the prestigious Ivy League university. In days the determined brunette had already applied for transfers to two relatively small liberal arts colleges and two state schools all within twenty miles of Yale. Bo had not necessarily had the best grades, and the fact that she had yet to declare a major had made the brunette incredibly nervous, and was ecstatic when she managed to get accepted to her first choice, one of the liberal arts schools only about eight miles from Lauren's campus.

With the money she had made from her robotic limb patents Lauren purchased a condo that was approximately halfway between the two schools in New Haven's historic district. The building was one of the few newer ones, and the apartment had three bedrooms, one of which Lauren turned into an office, and the other a bedroom for Bo, though at the time she rarely used it.

After the initial shock of the life altering experience the woman had bonded very closely, and clung to each other for support. However the tension between the two had begun to mount as Lauren had drifted further and further into her schoolwork and research projects. Bo had excepted it in the year following the incident, chalking it up to the blonde needing to escape from the vivid reality of her memories, however when Bo felt that she had been able to finally move on in her own way, she had accused Lauren of being incapable of doing the same.

To Lauren this was utterly absurd. She had processed the events and moved on in record time. She had always been one to easily adapt, and though what she had learned at the cabin blew her scientific mind apart, she still was able to move on, and long before she felt the brunette had. This was another point of contention between the two women as Lauren felt that Bo was obsessing over the events and the knowledge she had procured from the experience. At first Lauren thought that it was wonderful that the usually academically laid back brunette had taken such an interest in her studies and quest for knowledge, nonetheless she soon began to worry that perhaps she should be focusing it in other directions, ones that did not labor on mythical creatures and the occult.

The two finally ended up braking up after a colossal fight, and though they lived together, they barely ever spoke. The women spent the last a year and a half in this manner and in that time Lauren had taken up with fellow Eli, a photography major named Nadia. The two had met when the Yale Daily News had done an article on the young medical robotics genius, sending Nadia along to take photographs to accompany the article.

Though she found tanned, curly haired woman a bit forward, she also found her intriguing and the two began to spend a great deal of time together. Though a good bit of it was spent in public or in Nadia's dorm room, away from the jealous eyes, and snarky remarks of Bo. When Lauren was at home it seemed as though their apartment had a revolving door, and she rarely ever saw the same face emerging from Bo's room twice.

It seemed to Lauren that the brunette that she loved so much was going through a downward out of control spiral, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. It pained her to see the brunette passed out in a random guy or girl's arms on their sofa, only half dressed with an empty bottle of Jack clutched in one hand.

She more than once had to kick out one of Bo's many "acquaintances" as she would be trying to work in her home office/lab and be disrupted by loud metal music coming from Bo's room or the living room; only for her to come out to politely ask for them to turn it down and find Bo passed out cold with a drunk lover either dancing about completely oblivious, or trying to take advantage of her. These sessions would usually escalate out of control long after the person was gone, when Lauren would attempt to confront Bo after she had sobered up, but it usually ended in a shouting match.

She let out a heavy sigh as she pulled the car into the underground parking garage below the apartment complex, and gathered her things as she made her way to the elevator.

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><p><strong><em>AN: Hello all! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I've already got the next two written it's just a matter of revising them. =)_**

**_Thank you all for your awesome words about the prequel "Two Weeks In The Woods", and thank you for continuing this journey with me!_**


	2. Bo

_**A/N: Wow so it's only been a few hours and I've already gotten a lot of love and hate over this story.**_

_**I can assure you that this is 100% a doccubus BoLo journey. Just bare with me. I promise that you will not get invested only to find yourself in the middle of a copdoc or DyBo romp. **_

_**Anyhow, here's the next chapter, I do hope that you enjoy. Thank you as always for your feedback, follows, and faves!**_

**Bo (Chapter 2)**

The brunette sat off to the side of the crowded classroom, completely enthralled by the man speaking before her. The older balding man leaned casually with his back against the podium in the front of the class, though he may have been quite short he certainly knew how to command a room as all of his students as well as the brunette seemed to hang on his every word.

"So," the man sighed. "Read chapters one through three for the next class and we'll take it from there."

The students began to file out of the classroom and the brunette stood, gathering her things as she crossed to where the lecturer was standing answering questions from a few students. When the last student was finally gone she approached him with a smile.

"Another top notch lecture Professor McCorrigan." The brunette grinned.

The older man smiled fondly at the girl, his weathered face crinkling to reveal deep laugh lines.

"Please Bo, now that we're working together call me Trick." The man said gently.

The brunette's smile widened as she nodded.

"Do you have anything for me yet? I know the term just started so no papers to grade yet, but anything else? The uh, side work or anything?" The brunette asked eagerly.

The man pursed his lips as he thought before a smile returned to his face.

"Nothing yet, but I will keep you abreast of anything new that may arise. You always were my best student."

"Thank you Prof—Trick." The woman said with a slight flush. "Your class is what actually got me interested in learning again!" She laughed.

"Well, it is my pleasure, and I am very pleased to have you on board as my research assistant and TA now. You have a real aptitude for this." The man stated proudly.

"Thank you sir." Bo responded as she glanced up at the clock above the whiteboard. "So, I'll see you for the advanced class tomorrow?"

The man nodded.

"Have a good evening Ms. Dennis." The man said as he began to gather his own things, and Bo headed out of the classroom.

As Bo pushed open the heavy mental doors out into the cool autumn evening she paused in the middle of the sidewalk to take in a deep breath of crisp air. Autumn had always been Bo's favorite time of year. Apple cider and fresh doughnuts, leaves changing, hayrides that inevitably lead to a roll in the hay, and cuddling in a cozy sweater with someone special… well actually, she wasn't much of a sweater gal herself, but her cuddling in her favorite leather jacket while that special someone cuddled up to her in a sweater.

She allowed herself to get lost in a cloud of her own fantasy, and was so far gone that she did not notice the tall muscular boy crash into her as his arms outstretched and he grabbed an airborne football that was heading for the right side of her head.

As the boy collided with her Bo was knocked off her feet.

"Oh geez sorry!" The boy said as he quickly got up off of the brunette and held his hand outstretched to help her back to her feet.

"I'm fine thanks." Bo grumbled as she swatted the boy's hand away. She stood and brushed herself off, finally meeting his eyes and her heart stopped for a moment in her chest.

The boy was very tall and lean, he had tussled curly sandy blonde hair and a short scratchy beard. His striking blue-grey eyes offset his look and Bo could not help but stare for second as she noted the strong resemblance the boy bore to Dyson. Her heart sank.

The boy smiled at her and ran a hand through his messy hair.

"So uh, yeah. Sorry about that again. Are you okay?"

"Fine." Bo answered shortly before turning to leave.

Her thoughts became clouded with memories of the past and she tried to control her breathing in order to calm herself down. _Four years_ she thought to herself. _Four years and so much has changed_. As she made her way to the parking lot she self-consciously raised a hand to her covered right eye, her fingertips stopping as they hit the barrier that had become her go-to accessory.

After that fateful evening she had spent nearly a week in the hospital, two unsuccessful surgeries later it turned out that there was nothing that could be done to save the eye. Ever since she had dawned her new trademark eye patch much to her dismay.

As she reached her old beat up yellow Camaro she had to stop and lean on the hood as a sudden rush of unease clouded over her. She clinched her teeth and tried to remember the breathing exercises she had learned for these particular situations.

The memories of that night flashed before her eyes flickering in and out of focus. The look on Tamsin's face as a hand plunged through her chest, the way Dyson's body lay split and broken on the ground, the sound of Vex's voice, so full of fear as he called to her from the cellar.

"One…" She took in a deep breath holding it for one long beat. "Two..." She exhaled and drew in a second gust of air. "Three…" She opened her eyes as she exhaled and pushed herself up off her car.

* * *

><p><em><span>FLASHBACK<span>_

_"Well Ms. Dennis, I've had a word with your sister and your friend." The portly gentleman in his brown slacks and tan short-sleeved shirt with proud gleaming sheriff's badge cleared his throat letting out a light rasp of mucus._

_The brunette was lying in an uncomfortable bed her head propped up on two overly starched pillows. She gazed around the small sterile hospital room a single tear falling from her left eye as she turned to face the man speaking to her._

_The man crossed his arms and began to play with his bushy salt and pepper mustache, squinting at Bo through weathered blue eyes._

_"Now I know you girls are all a little hysterical, I wouldn't imagine you to be any other way after what you three have been through." The man let out an exhausted sigh as he pulled a hard plastic chair up to sit next to the side of the bed. "The tale your sister told is well," the man let out a small laugh, "well let's just say that she has one active imagination." The man shook his head as he smiled over at the brunette._

_"Whatever she told you was the truth." The brunette scoffed glaring at the man._

_"Listen kiddo, nobody's accusing anybody of not telling the truth." The man grew serious as he leaned in closer to the brunette, his hands pressed firmly on his upper thighs. "All's I'm sayin' is that I'm not too sure what to think of your sister's claims that the bogeyman invaded her boyfriend's body before..." He took a deep breath in, clearing his rasping throat again._

_"But that is exactly what happened!" The brunette shouted incredulously before the man could continue. "It was the Deus Ex Machina! There's a whole book about it and these other demon, monster things! I swear! If you go back to the cabin it's there!" _

_"Well sweetheart that might be a little bit of a problem seeing as how there is not too much of a cabin per say to go back to. But I have a whole team of my men there, and so far they have been able to corroborate most of ya'll's story. The man let out a mucusy cough as he stood._

_"What do you mean most of our story?" The brunette said furrowing her brow under the layers of clean white bandages._

_The man who was now across the room standing next to the door paused with his hand on the handle._

_"It means that I think you all just need some more rest before we speak again Ms. Dennis." The man stated as he quickly exited the room pulling the door swiftly shut behind him. _

_The brunette could hear muffled voices coming from the hall before the silhouette of a figure placed it's self directly in front of her door, and remained standing there the rest of the night._


	3. Kenzi

_**A/N: I swear, this is the last angst-y chapter. Our girls went through some tough stuff, and have been dealing with it in their own unique ways over the last 4 years, I tried to stay as true to the personalities that the incredible writers over at Lost Girl created as I could in this AU.**_

_**Thanks to all those still reading. You guys are awesome.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Kenzi (Chapter 3)<strong>

The goth groaned as she rolled around on the day bed, her hand franticly grabbing for the device making the horrible screeching sound indicating that it was time to rise from her slumber.

As her dark polished nails reached out for the nightstand they knocked over several hair ties, a scratched CD, and an empty beer bottle before her fingers finally wrapped around the evil machine causing such a racket. Without looking the girl slid her thumb across the screen revealing a picture of a happy and slightly younger version of her self and a boy with matching unkempt jet-black hair and a patchy mustache and goatee, a cigarette in the hand of the arm that was wrapped around the girl. The two were dressed quite similarly in all black and while the girl was sticking out her tongue and rocking a gang sign, the boy was simply sticking up his middle finger toward the camera with his free hand.

Without looking the girl skillfully punched in an access code and then another button on the screen before throwing the device across the room where it banged against the wall next to a full size bed with dark red sheets, falling into a pile of dirty cloths scattered across the floor. A groan echoed out from under the dark purple sheets and black silk duvet covering the girl's head.

Five minutes had passed and the girl had fallen completely back to sleep when the tone began to ring out again.

A louder groan erupted from the heap on the bed as a hand shot out exploring the night stand above her head yet again, only this time turning up short. With a loud moan the girl sat bolt upright in bed turning her head in the direction she thought the noise was coming from.

"Wakey wakey." The girl muttered as she threw off the remaining covers revealing that all she was wearing were black cotton panties with tiny pink skulls embroidered on them and a black Joy Division shirt; a long scar ran from the top of her right ankle up to the top of her shin, and on either side there were two faded pink circular scars from where the pins had been set in the artificial bones that had replaced the shattered ones.

The girl stretched and allowed her feet to hit the single inch of wooden floor that was not covered in cloths as she padded over to the spot where she had so carefully discarded her phone before hitting the snooze button, a slight limp in her step.

She punched in the code again before straitening herself into a tall stretch.

"Yo Bobo you home yet?" The girl called as she made her way to the closed bedroom door. Gaining no reply she decided that it was safe to trot out into the hallway without getting dressed.

As she staggered down the hall she entered a bright living and dining room, the sunlight streaming in through the sliding glass doors that lead out to the private balcony making her hiss and raise a hand to her eyes.

She shuffled through the modestly decorated space to the posh looking kitchen with its black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances against dark cherry wood cabinets. She quickly hit the power button on the coffee maker and filled the liner to the brim with grounds. She then hoisted herself up onto the counter and daydreamed while she drummed her fingers on the counter waiting for the coffee to brew.

As she looked around the somewhat lavish space she thought back on the events of the past few years.

After the incident at the cabin Kenzi had returned to her family's empty home. She and Bo's mom had shown up for a while, but after about three weeks of "trying" to help her daughters process the traumatic events they had witnessed she grew bored and took off with a new boyfriend to Vegas. Or at least that's where she had said she was going. That was the last time Kenzi saw her mother. Bo had returned to school a week prior, so Kenzi was left to yet again fend for herself in her last year of high school.

She had always been an okay student. She made decent grades, and her teachers knew that she was much smarter than she let on, if only she would apply herself. Kenzi on the other hand was uninterested in science, math, and history, and could give two shits who were running from prom king and queen, unlike her sister who had taken home the tiara her senior year. Instead she chose to hang out back with the misfit crowed, that is when she even bothered to show up at all. Her teachers grew worried, however there was little they could do as they were unable to contact the girl's mother.

When Kenzi wasn't in school she had taught herself the ancient art of pickpocketing, and had become rather quite skilled at it. That all ended though when she attempted to pick the wrong man's pocket and was hauled into jail, causing her sister to have to leave university to come and bail her out. Aside from the borage of lectures she endured her sister threatened her within an inch of her life to clean up her act.

The true wakeup call however did not occur until she had completely spiraled out of control a month later when she and few buddies from school decided to rob a convince store. Her two accomplices who were both from known Russian crime families, unbeknownst to Kenzi were both packing handguns, she had been told the plan was to pretend they had weapons, keeping their hands inside their jackets at all times.

However when the first one actually drew a gun from his waist she fled the scene. Unfortunately for her the clerk had tripped the silent alarm as soon as the three masked juveniles entered the store, causing the frightened girl to literally run into a cop car during her escape.

To this day she still doesn't know how she managed to avoid any jail time or even a fine for that matter, her sister had somehow come to her rescue yet again and finagled the cops to community service until she graduated from high school in the summer. The two boys on the other hand had been expelled from school and were facing hard time for armed robbery. Though Kenzi was only seventeen at the time and both of her accomplices were eighteen, she still had no clue how Bo had managed to get her off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. It helped of coarse that she had fled the second she realized there was a gun involved, but in Kenzi's eyes she knew that to any cop or judge that wouldn't make a difference.

From that point on Bo had watched her like a hawk, though she really didn't need to. That had scared the girl strait. She had been looking for a way to escape her reality, escape the reality of what she had seen that summer, but the thought that she could have possibly died or spent the rest of her life behind bars was more frightening to her than learning that not only may we not be alone in this universe, but we weren't even alone on this planet!

So she cracked down, and flew strait for the remaining semesters, and when she found out that her sister was transferring schools to be closer to Lauren at Yale, Kenzi applied to all the same schools as Bo.

She only barely managed to get accepted to the same institute as Bo after being waitlisted, and then there was the issue of money. Their mother hadn't exactly set up college funds for the girls, and as it was Bo's savings were beginning to run dry, leaving nothing for Kenzi. The girl however somehow managed to sweet talk her way into a scholarship program for underprivileged Russian immigrants. Something Bo still asked Kenzi how she managed since they were only a quarter Russian, and certainly not immigrant ones at that. Her sister stated that she had simply used the Russian she had learned from her mob ties, as she had always had a certain aptitude for the language, and added that it was probably best for plausible deniability purposes if she did not give her sister any more details than that.

And so, Kenzi headed to the land of opportunity for two whole semesters of college.

* * *

><p>Kenzi's head turned toward the front door as she heard the click of the lock, and in walked the familiar figure of her sister. Bo quickly dropped her satchel bag to the ground next to the door and shrugged off her still somewhat new black leather jacket to reveal a low cut studded black tank paired with tight black jeans and knee length black boots.<p>

"You know I'd prefer not to have a side of Kenzi ass with my sandwich. I mean really, we eat there?" Bo arched an eyebrow toward her sister who was now pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Besides, I thought that there was some sort of rule against the absence of clothing in common spaces?" She moved to the cabinet next to her sister as she grabbed a mug for herself and began to pour herself a cup of the hot liquid.

"Oh pah-lease, like you haven't seen it before. I mean seriously, we've shared a bedroom for like almost half a year now, and mom used to give us baths together." The girl said rolling her eyes as she cupped the warm mug in her hands.

Bo reached over and added a generous portion of sugar to her beverage as she leaned next to her sister.

"Don't remind me." She grumbled. "However I don't think that Lauren would really appreciate you leaving your butt prints all over her kitchen counter tops." She added as she took a large gulp of the hot drink.

"Hey! This is my place too you know!" Kenzi said incredulously as she hopped down off the counter.

"First of all you don't pay rent, you are basically squatting!" Bo shook her head. "Second of all you're lucky no one's called border patrol, or immigration on you, seeing as how you're technically not even legally residing in this country!" Bo pointed out.

Kenzi rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist at her sister is a shooing motion.

"Logistics!" She scoffed as she turned to head back to their bedroom. "Besides, we both know that me being here is good for you, look at how I've turned you around in the last few months." She added with a wink.

Bo forged on choosing to ignore the comment on her recent antics, they were something she was not overly proud of and had been trying to repair not only herself but her broken relationship with Lauren as well. She hated that the blonde had seen her at her worst. She had wanted to leave, to escape, but her funds were all but gone, and she had no means to move out. School had taken longer than it should have, and she only just now finally managed to land a job. However even at the peak of their arguments Lauren had never once threatened to kick her out, and whenever Bo had threatened to leave, the blonde would always protest against it. It was something that confused Bo, and if anything egged her on to act out as much as possible, simply to see how far she could push the blonde. But for some reason, even when they were at their worst, Lauren still insisted that Bo stay.

Now Bo was determined to repair their fractured relationship. When Kenzi had quit school, subsequently being kicked out of her dorm room, and then fired from her live-in maid job at one of the campus sororities, Bo and Lauren both decided that it would be best if she moved in with them.

Kenzi had managed to help rein in Bo, to the younger Dennis her sister had already saved her life, now it was time for her to return the favor. It also helped that the two had to share a room cutting the late night swarays to a minimum. It had been a rough go of it at first, but finally things were really starting to look up.

"You know, if you'd just return to school you could not only be here legally, but we wouldn't have to share a room, you could have your own dorm room again! Maybe this time get a room mate you actually like!"

Kenzi stopped her retreat to turn back toward her sister.

"You know I'm a student of the streets! I learned everything I have from the school of hard knocks, shit son!" The dark haired girl retorted.

"Besides," she added in a more serious tone, "I'm 99.9% sure that chick was a serial killer. No one has that many motivational cat posters, NO ONE!" And with that she headed back into their room slamming the door behind her. A minuet later however she popped her head back out the door. "So, how was your first official day of work?" She asked with a grin.

Bo smiled into her mug.

"Good. Really good, professor McCorrigan is brilliant, and he's going to get me some more of those side jobs, you know tracking down creatures just like that last one."

Kenzi pointed a finger out through the crack in the door.

"You mean us, more of those side jobs for us! There is no me in team Bobo!" The girl said scowling. "Well, technically there is a me, but you have to rearrange the letters, and OH MY GOSH I HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH HOTPANTS FOR ENITERLY TOO LONG!" The girl shouted as her face grew wide with panic and disgust.

Bo just chuckled.

"Kitty cat serial killer girl doesn't sound too bad now does she?" Bo asked as she burst into a fit of laughter.

With that the door to their bedroom slammed shut again, and this time Kenzi did not reemerge.

Bo was just settling back against the counter when the front door creaked open again.

* * *

><p>Lauren strode into the apartment dropping her leather shoulder bag on the floor next to Bo's, seeing it she whirled around to face the brunette in the kitchen.<p>

"You haven't been here long have you? I was hoping to get home before you." The blonde said worry in her voice.

Seeing the usually cool and confident woman somewhat flustered brought a smile to Bo's face and she just grinned back at the future doctor, clutching her mug to her chest.

"Nope, just got in myself Doctor Lewis, you should actually be glad that I did or else you may have walked in on Kenzi in a state of undress." The brunette teased. Lauren's brows drew together.

"I thought there was a rule about keeping cloths on in common areas?" She asked in confusion, causing Bo to laugh.

"That's exactly what I said!" Bo giggled, "but I guess whoever creates the rules they don't apply to them."

Lauren nodded smirking.

"I should really do a study on Kenzi Logic, I could probably write a book on the subject." Lauren joked.

"I'll split the profits with ya' 60/40." Came a voice from the hall and both Bo and Lauren turned to see a fully dressed Kenzi leaning in the archway. "I of course should get more seeing as how I am your muse." She added.

Bo and Lauren just looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"I'm just going to go and get changed quickly, then you can tell me all about your first day over dinner." The blonde said as she turned her attention back to Bo, who greeted her with a huge dimpled grin.

"Ughh, thank goodness, is this like a date? Because I am seriously over all this will they won't they crap!" Kenzi asked as she threw her hands up in the air to emphasize her point. Bo blushed as she struggled with a response. It had been so long since she and Lauren had had a proper date, they were only just finally starting to fully reconcile after their split.

The split had almost killed Bo. She knew that she had been being difficult, and she had felt Lauren slipping away, but she had fought for her attention in the wrong way. Neither of them were blameless in their relationship ending the first time, but Bo realized in hindsight that she had not made things easy on the blonde, but Lauren always seemed to close herself off and had difficulty sharing her feelings, where as Bo wore her heart fully on her sleeve.

So when ultimately the blonde asked for a break it had really taken the brunette by surprise. Sure there were fights here and there, but she had no idea how Lauren was really feeling. She was so distraught and hell bent on hurting Lauren the way she had hurt her, she brought back countless partners to their shared apartment just to flaunt them in front of Lauren, hoping to make her jealous. Really she was the jealous one. They didn't mean anything to her. She never even bothered to learn their names. But Lauren actually had moved on. She had someone who she actually cared about and cared about her. And Bo had just slipped back into her old ways.

Her behavior had made her so unbelievably aggravated with herself that she felt as though she didn't even truly deserve the incredibly patient, kind, and loving future doctor. But whether she liked it or not the blonde still had her heart, whether they were together or not it did not matter. Bo had given herself completely to Lauren a long time ago; it just took her until it was too late to realize it.

She had put the woman she loved through hell, and when she finally hit rock bottom and managed to sober up for more than an hour, with a little help from her sister she realized that she was running the risk of losing Lauren for good. In that moment she had decided that she would do anything and everything in her power to get Lauren back, and that meant for starters, cleaning up her act.

Bo looked up into Lauren's warm brown eyes. She felt herself waiting and hoping, silently asking the blonde the same question as her sister.

There was a brief pause that to Bo felt like an eternity.

"Yes, yes it is." Lauren responded, grinning out of the corner of her mouth as she moved past Kenzi on her way to the hall that led to the bedrooms and her office.

"Finally!" Kenzi sang as she made mock cheering noises, "I knew once she called it quits with short dark and curly it was only a matter of time!" She cast a wink at her sister.

Bo grinned for a moment to her self, a few weeks prior she and Lauren had been out grocery shopping together and the blonde had let it slip that she was no longer seeing her irritatingly intense ladylove. Bo had nearly caused a banana avalanche she was so distracted and overcome with joy, she had been trying to hide a smile from Lauren when the cart she was pushing collided with the table of fruit causing at least five bunches of bananas to fall to the floor.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" The brunette asked placing her empty coffee cup down on the counter and folding her arms across her chest, her eyebrows raised at her sister.

"Why because you and Captain Hook are gonna be off searchin' for lost booty all night?" The girl asked winking and dancing, making a broad ass slapping motion with her right hand.

Bo rolled her eyes at her sister. "Again, isn't there somewhere you're suppose to be?"

Kenzi halted her mini dance party to check the time on her phone.

"Ouu! You're right my shift starts in like ten minutes!" The girl shrieked as she hurried to grab her jacket and purse. "You two kids have a good time, don't stay out too late, don't drink and drive, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." The girl added in a motherly tone.

Bo narrowed her eye at her sister.

"Kenz, that opens up nearly as many options as it closes off for us."

"Alright fine, don't do anything gay-Kenzi wouldn't do." She amended, causing her sister to shake her head. "Oh! Is there anything you need? Remember 15% off, 5 off the top shelf stuff." Kenzi wiggled her eyebrows at her sister.

"Thanks Kenz, but I think we're good. I still don't completely understand how you managed to get a job without a work visa in the first place." Bo laughed.

"Easy-peasy, I work the vastly unpopular night shift at a 24 hour liquor store, and my boss pays me cash under the table." The girl shrugged.

"Have I mentioned how not okay I am with this?" Bo asked. She was not a fan of her sister's new job. Her sister had assured her that there was always at least one other person on shift with her, and that they were in Connecticut, but neither thing really did much to give Bo peace of mind.

"You have, every night as a matter a fact. But it's cool. The most we ever get are rowdy prersters, and the occasional fake ID." Kenzi reassured her sister, flashing her a huge grin. "Enjoy your date, wink wink!" She added casting her two overemphasized winks as she exited the apartment slamming the door behind her.

Bo just shook her head and headed back to her room to get changed for the evening.


	4. Girl Interrupted

**Girl Interrupted (Chapter 4)**

_Flashback_

_Lauren lay in the sterile hospital room staring down at the wrapped stump where her arm should be._

_She had woken up about a half an hour ago, and based on the lack of feeling in her body and the bandages that extended just to the base of her elbow, she surmised that they must have had to amputate further. She knew that the break had been far from clean, but she was hoping that they would not have to remove anything further._

_She sighed. At least they were able to keep the elbow. She had only done some light reading on prosthetics and the work the military had done in attempting to create a new working arm for soldiers who had lost theirs in service. What did this mean for her? What did this mean for her future?_

_She felt her anger begin to bubble to the surface. How was she ever supposed to become a brain surgeon with one lousy hand? You needed both hands to preform surgery! She felt a heat creep up around the collar of the faded blue hospital gown she wore. What the hell had happened? The course of her entire life had just managed to change in the blink of an eye. Why did she ever agree to accompany a girl she barely knew out to the middle of nowhere with her psycho friends? Ah to be young and foolishly in love! She snickered humorlessly to her self._

_She let out a deep exhale as tears began to sting her eyes, unable to tear them away from the wrappings that were beginning to soak lightly from blood and puss._

_No. Who was she kidding? She realized that she truly was in love with Bo and would follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked her to. All she had to do was flash her one of those breathtaking grins with that little dimple poking out, and Lauren was a goner._

_She was torn from her thoughts however when a light knock wrapped on the door before it opened slowly, revealing a tall, slightly overweight man in long crisp brown pants and a short sleeved tan top. Lauren presumed him that he was in his late fifties based on the salt and pepper hair of his mustache, and small tufts peeking out from under his brown law enforcement hat._

_The man tilted the stetson in her direction before removing it. He then pulled a weathered notebook out of his back pocket and flipped it open, glancing over a few pages before directing his attention back at the blonde in bed._

_"Ms. Lewis." He said giving her a small nod, his old blue eyes meeting hers._

_Lauren just stared blankly back at him, and the man unconsciously began to play with the corner of his mustache. _

_"I have a few questions to ask you if you are feeling up to it?" He cleared his throat making a light rasping noise that turned into a rattling cough._

_Lauren nodded._

_"How are my friends?" She asked, still not showing the man any clear emotion._

_"Fine, fine. The older Dennis girl got out of surgery about fifteen minutes ago, sleeping soundly, and the younger one is still in with the doctors." The man gave her an almost sympathetic look._

_Lauren nodded again and turned her attention to gaze out the window. There was not much to see, just the dark sky that was beginning to show small traces of early morning light, it looked to Lauren as though they must be on the first floor for a small local hospital judging by the tiny parking lot she was staring at._

_The man cleared his throat again. "How is it that a bunch of city kids such as yourself find your way this far north?"_

_"Holiday." Lauren responded not taking her eyes off the window. "Two week trip to a friend's family cabin to unwind after a difficult semester."_

_The man nodded._

_"Mackenzie Dennis said that there were seven of you that were staying at William Santiago's fishing cabin a few towns over?" The way the man posed the statement was in typical police questioning fashion. He knew that was where she was, but wanted to hear it from her. It dawned on Lauren in that moment, that she didn't even know Hale's last name, or if Hale was even really his name, or just a nickname._

_"I'm not sure who owned the cabin, I was told that it belonged to Hale's uncle." Lauren responded still staring contemplatively out the window._

_The man furrowed his brow._

_"Sounds like maybe you didn't know this group too well." The man prodded. "Why agree to travel so far from the city with people you barely knew?" _

_The man's voice wasn't accusing, more concern mixed with a light intrigue._

_"Bo." Her voice came out as almost a whisper. It was a simple response, but the only one the girl had, and she sighed, a small sad smile playing across her lips as the uttered the strong, beautiful brunette's name._

_The man furrowed his brow again, and flipped through the pages of his worn notepad. His team that he had sent to the crime scene had confirmed that aside from the three girls at the hospital there were the remains of four other young adults, one girl, and two males, the fourth body however was not even a body, but charred ash remains, it would take a bit of DNA testing before they confirmed the gender. _

_"Beau? Is that your boyfriend?" The man asked as he pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket and scribbled the name down with a question mark after it._

_The blonde did not have time for small mindedness and snapped her head away from the window to stare harshly at the man._

_"No. Bo is my girlfriend. As in Ysabeau Dennis, the woman who is most likely lying in a similar room just down the hall, unless she was transferred to the neurology ward after her surgery, if this hospital has one; I can only imagine the trauma the area around her frontal lobe endured, specifically her visual cortex. It obviously pierced the orbit, but I believe that the knife thankfully missed the optic nerve, however I would need to study her myself before placing any more hypotheses."_

_The man just stared at her dumbfounded, she had lost him at "girlfriend". Things tended to move a little bit more slowly out here, and most everyone he knew had old-fashioned ideals including him self._

_He shifted from one foot to the other nervously. Lauren just stared hard at him. She wasn't irritated with him over the innocent mistake. She understood that out in the country time and progress had a different way of moving, but all of her emotions over the past twenty four hours were bubbling to the surface, and she felt as though she might explode._

_The man cleared his throat yet again causing the blonde to lightly roll her eyes as she directed her gaze back out the window to her left._

_"I'm afraid that I am unable to discuss your friend's medical situation with you since you are not family, but it sounds like you have a pretty good grip on it already." The blonde shifted her gaze back toward the man who was again fidgeting with his mustache._

_"Oats." The blonde stated calmly. The man's fingers halted its twirling._

_"Beg your pardon miss?" He asked dropping his hand to his side._

_"How long has it been? A week, maybe two? Your wife finally got you to agree to quit smoking. I could tell from your cough and the way you clear your throat, long term smoker." The blonde said, her mouth remaining in a thin line. "Oats __contain avenathramides which combat high blood pressure, boost your nervous system, and reduce stress. There is an extract from green oats that can help ease withdrawal symptoms, and cravings when you quit smoking, so it might help with your mustache twirling." The blonde then returned to staring out the window yet again._

_The man rose his hand to his mustache, but quickly dropped it self-consciously, and shoved it in a pocket of his brown starch pants._

_"Well, thank you Ms. Lewis, I'll, I'll keep that in mind." The blonde nodded, completely uninterested. _

_The man looked around the small room, and upon finding a small faux-leather chair in a dull peach color in the corner next to the closet, he pulled it up beside the bed._

_"If you would be so kind miss, I'd like you to walk me through the events of the evening. I know that it is hard, but I'd like to get a clear picture while it is still fresh in your mind." The man cleared his throat again, dragging a white handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing out the corner of his mouth. _

_Panic suddenly shot through Lauren as she struggled to keep her face neutral. She had wanted the three of them to get their story strait before they got to the police, however she had passed out in the car before she had a chance to discuss it with Bo and Kenzi, and only just woken up not even an hour ago._

_She knew that both Bo and Kenzi were highly emotion driven and that they would be likely to give a passionate account of exactly what happened. Which is what frightened Lauren._

_There was no way they could bring the truth to the authorities, they would surly lock them up in a mental ward and throw away the key. No, that would be bad news. They needed to tell the truth, just a modified version of it._

_It was clear to Lauren that the man had not yet questioned the other girls yet; otherwise he would have known that Bo goes by Bo and not her formal first name. He may have spoken briefly with Kenzi before she was taken into surgery, but she presumed that the younger girl had more than likely only given up where they were coming from. She knew that the doctors and nurses would have rushed the girl into their care before Kenzi would have been able to spit out the entire story of how and why they got there._

_Lauren sighed hard and turned her gaze to the man's soft but weathered face, there was no better place to start than at the beginning._

_She proceeded to calmly recall how Bo had asked her to come along with her to meet her friends and her sister and decompress a little after a stressful semester at school by going up to her friend's uncle's cabin up north. She explained that everything seemed to be going well the first few days, although the third day Hale began to act a little strangely. _

_She explained that even on the second day he had seemed a little distant with his girlfriend, and pulled a cruel, elaborate prank on her. The rest of the guests thought nothing of it at the time the two had a certain banter in their relationship, but now in hindsight that night was only the beginning of what was to come._

_She left out some of the gorier details as she recalled how Hale had singlehandedly overpowered each of the guests, before Kenzi was able knock the man out, and that somehow a lighter fell from his pocket managing to light himself on fire._

_She knew that the ending was a stretch, but what was she going to tell him? That he was really possessed by an ancient demon that could only be killed and set the souls he ate for sustenance free with fire?_

_The older man stared at Lauren throughout her entire story, looking down only occasionally to jot something down in his notebook before returning his gaze into the girl's deep brown eyes that held a haunting essence as she recalled her tale._

_When the blonde finished she grew silent, her eyes had dropped and were back on her bandaged arm._

_The man frowned and rubbed his forehead with his fingers._

_"Thank you Ms. Lewis." He stood up and pushed the stiff plush chair back to its original spot. "I'll leave you to get some rest now. If you need anything one of my men will be stationed right outside your door." He tipped his hat as he placed it back on his head and left Lauren alone with her thoughts, closing the door behind him._

_"Great." Lauren mumbled to herself. How was she supposed to get to Bo and Kenzi with an officer right outside her door? She just had to hope that for once the sisters would ignore their need to passionately recount the truth, and for once speak with their brains instead of their hearts. But then again, what were the odds of that happening?_


	5. Say Anything

**Say Anything (Chapter 5)**

As Bo's beloved beat up yellow Camaro pulled into the parking lot of the modest French restaurant she had chosen she threw the car quickly into park and ran around the car to open the door for her date.

Lauren chuckled and blushed slightly at Bo's chivalry.

"Thank you Bo, but you do know that I have two perfectly good arms right?" The blond stood up and smoothed her blue silk button down shirt that was tucked into gray tweed dress pants, allowing the steel tips where fingers should be linger on the fabric. What she wouldn't give to be able to actually feel the smooth feel of the silk under her fingers again.

Bo smiled back.

"Believe me, I am more than aware." She replied as she took on a flirtatious tone causing the blonde before her to turn beet red.

Lauren moved quickly past Bo and took in a deep breath of the cool night air, hoping that it could calm her down.

"You know that I am still not sure how I feel about you driving. I know that you have worked hard to rebuild your spatial recognition back to near perfect, but it's that near part that still has me slightly worried." The blonde turned to glance at the brunette who was dressed in a tight black leather mini skirt, and dark blue low cut top, with tight black leather jacket completing the ensemble.

"Thank you for your concern doctor, but my spatial recognition is in perfect working order. Just ask the two harpies Kenz and I laid a beat down on a few weeks back." She winked as she caught up to the blonde's pace. Well, Lauren assumed it was a wink, it could have been an exaggerated blink, it was hard to tell with one eye covered.

As they reached the restaurant Lauren let out a groan.

"Don't remind me about yours and Kenzi's extracurricular activities." She still was not sure how she felt about this new position of Bo's. She was glad that the brunette had truly seemed to turn her life around, and enjoy the side jobs her new boss was sending her on, but she did not like how dangerous they were. And, whether she liked to admit it or not, she was somewhat hurt that the brunette had not sought out her help in the matter. Especially when she came home with multiple lacerations on her forearms and chest, which she had let the campus nurse messily patch up at two thirty in the morning.

She knew that she and Bo were still finding their way back to one another, but she was hurt that the brunette had not come to her and let her take care of her wounds. She understood that with the problems they had had in the past she may not be jumping up and down to beg Lauren to come along on one of her and Kenzi's adventures, but she thought that they were still close enough that the brunette would trust her to look after her when she needed it.

_Oh well_, Lauren thought, _baby steps_.

Once the women were seated at a private table near the back of the restaurant, which was decorated in light blue and yellow decor with accents of white including very intricate French crown molding and gingerbread lattice work separating the restaurant into four semi private sections, Bo finally responded.

"I know you aren't fond of traipsing around the woods in the dark, but we're out there making a real difference." The brunette spoke over the top of her menu, not lowering it to fully face blonde.

Lauren sighed.

"It isn't that Bo, I just wish you had come to me. Let me help you." Her voice came out smaller than she had meant it to, but her emotions, which she usually held so guarded, were beginning to rise to the surface. She also had realized in the time they spent apart that since Bo was so driven by her emotions, one of the mistakes that she had made was keeping her self so guarded. She realized that the brunette always voiced how she felt, and Lauren would just keep her feelings tucked away. She knew that if she and Bo ever had a real shot at a second go 'round, she would need to be more vocal about what was going through her mind.

Bo on the other hand was taken aback by Lauren's statement and lowered her menu so that she could look into the blonde's deep brown eyes. She just thought that Lauren had a problem with her chasing after monsters, and things she had trouble believing existed, however it would seem as though the woman before her had more of an issue with the fact that Bo had not come to confide in her, or seek her for medical help.

Bo's heart hitched in her chest as she saw the defeated look in Lauren's eyes, and had an overwhelming urge to jump across the table and engulf the blonde in a tight hug.

"I, I didn't realize." Bo started. "I thought you just didn't like the idea of me hunting down monsters because you didn't believe in them?"

Lauren's brows knit together as she thought.

"No. I have learned that there is a whole other world out there that we share this planet with. It might be hard for my scientific mind to comprehend, but on the other hand it also fascinates it. Could you imagine getting to study a new life form up close and personal?" Lauren's eyes lit up with possibilities.

"Leave it to you to geek out over a couple of large chested bird ladies." The brunette laughed enjoying the gleeful look in Lauren's eyes.

Lauren was brought out of her scientific haze by Bo's comment.

"Large chested bird ladies? You mean to tell me that you were not joking about the harpy? They are exactly as they are out of Greek and Roman mythology?" Her brain was buzzing.

Bo giggled again as she raised her glass of water taking a large gulp.

"One and the same. We ran into three of 'em, all sisters, each as beautiful as the next." She suddenly grimaced and shook slightly, "nasty tempers though, and they smell awful."

Lauren listened intently completely memorized.

"What is it that they were doing that you needed to stop them? Was it their mere presence? Are all of these new creatures you're discovering a real threat? From what I can recall from the one mythology class I took, harpies primarily stole food, and had an insatiable hunger."

Bo nodded, "Exactly… and torture people. They would occasionally be sent to retrieve a wrongdoer to their master, and in more recent years their tastes have apparently evolved from bread and wine to attractive male hikers."

Lauren cringed slightly.

"Yeah," Bo continued on. "They would swoop down on the unsuspecting hiker and snatch them up in their talons, carrying them high up in the hills to their nest. Let's just say they like to play with their food…" Bo trailed off looking back down at her menu, although she had suddenly lost her appetite.

Lauren sat and contemplated that for a moment. "Oh." She suddenly said, "Oh!" She sat up a little further in her chair before leaning forward to speak closer to Bo so that she could lower her voice. "How, I mean how is that even possible? Do they have human…" She trailed off as Bo cut in.

"Nope! All bird."

Lauren made a face. She went to ask another question when she was interrupted by a male's voice. The two women looked up to see a bored looking young man with slicked back black hair and a thin mustache that curled up in handlebars at either end.

"Ladies may I start you off with something to drink?" He asked with only a faint hint of an accent. When the women had each order their wine and the waiter disappeared Bo rolled her eyes to Lauren.

"I hate hipsters." She pouted slightly.

Lauren couldn't help but smile at the adorable expression on the brunette's face. She had missed Bo and all of the expressions that came with her.

"I think he's actually French." Lauren said quietly as she giggled.

Bo turned her head in the direction of the bar where the waiter was leaning on the counter flirting with the redhead bartending.

"Oh." Bo replied before returning to her menu.

"I've missed you. This." Lauren said thinking out loud.

Bo raised her eyes to meet Lauren's. Gosh how she could drown in those whisky brown pools. She smiled back.

"I've really missed you too." She sighed contently and moved to place her hand over Lauren's, which was sitting on the table playing idly with the corner of her soupspoon. Just as Bo's hand was about to make contact the waiter returned with their drinks, placing one in Bo's way.

The brunette pouted to her self, but quickly recovered hoping it would go unnoticed by the blonde.

If Lauren had noticed she was polite enough not to point it out as she took a sip of her wine.

As she finished and placed her glass back down on the table Lauren smiled at Bo.

"So, how was your first day? I shouldn't have taken a drink yet, we need to toast to your new job!" She said raising her glass again. Bo flushed slightly and picked up her own glass of wine to clink with Lauren's before each took a sip.

"It was good. I didn't really do very much. Just listened in on Professor McCorrigan's first lecture of the semester. There aren't any papers to grade or anything yet and he doesn't have any more side jobs for me just yet, so it was a pretty easy first day."

Lauren grinned and Bo couldn't help but feel as though there was a little pride radiating out of Lauren's grin. "I'll be going in early tomorrow, we have Advanced Folklore tomorrow, then History of the Occult and Witchcraft on Thursday. Introduction to World Mythology was today, but I'd like to get in early tomorrow because Professor McCorrigan, Trick, told me that he just got a new shipment of rare texts in and I'd like to skim through a few of them."

Lauren was beaming.

"Wow, who would have thought that I'd be dating Indiana Jones?" She said with a slight laugh. Then it hit her and her face dropped. _Shit! _She thought to herself as she looked down in embarrassment. A slip of the damn tongue. Did she really just call Bo her girlfriend? She chanced a glance up hoping that Bo had missed the unintentional sentiment, but based on the hundred-watt grin she was receiving from her she knew that it hadn't escaped the brunette.

"Former girlfriend." She mumbled as she cleared her throat trying desperately to rectify the situation. She noted that Bo's face dropped, but only just slightly.

"More like Buffy." Bo mused as she took another sip of her wine. "I mean I don't get to hunt down kick ass artifacts, just things that go bump in the night."

"And we know you look better in leather." Lauren said quietly, she almost slapped herself as she turned a vibrant red. What was getting into her? She hadn't even had that much wine, and here she was making multiple suggestive comments to her former flame.

Bo smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Which one do I look better in leather than?" Her voice had taken on a low sultry tone.

"Buffy." Lauren responded confused as to why there was even a question.

"I don't know. I always kinda had a thing for Indy myself and that dusty brown jacket." Bo said with a smirk.

It was Lauren's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Seriously? I mean I guess I had a thing for him when I saw the movies, although it was more of a draw to his mind, and wanting to be him more so than date him." The blonde mused.

"Date him?" Bo laughed.

Lauren's cheeks flushed again. "You know what I mean."

"So are you saying that you'd rather _date _Buffy?" Bo was beginning to like this game.

Lauren drew her brows together. "I mean I'm not really sure she's my type, but given the option between her and Indy, absolutely. Are you saying that you would pick Indy?"

Bo smirked. "Oh yeah!"

"But he's a total womanizer!" Lauren argued.

"Yeah but I like the idea of him bringing that whip into the bedroom." Bo teased with an edge to her voice as she leaned in closer to the blonde across the table.

Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night, and one that may need to end in an ice cold shower.

Bo was biting her lip and just about to be bold. Her foot was hovering next to Lauren's and she had such a desire to rub it up against the blonde's leg. At this point she would take any contact. It felt like it had been so long since she had made Lauren laugh like this, and it was driving her insane.

Just then their waiter leaned his head in and spoke loudly.

"Are you ready to order?"

His voice startled Bo and caused her to jump. She gave the man a dirty look. _Strike two frenchy_ she thought to she self.

The two women ordered their food and continued to tease one another gently. They were finally starting to find their groove again, and as much as it pained Bo, she knew that they would soon have to confront their past in order to heal old wounds and move on.

As their meals were delivered and Bo ordered a second glass of wine for a little liquid encouragement she decided that it was time to confront the elephant that had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room, reading a newspaper and waiting his turn.

"Lauren…"

"Bo…"

They both laughed awkwardly, as they had said the other's name in unison.

"Sorry, you first." Lauren blushed holding her hand out for Bo to continue.

"You sure?" Bo asked with burning ears. Lauren nodded to her.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really happy that we're here." Bo said looking down at her food. Lauren swallowed and nodded, understanding that Bo meant figuratively, and not the restaurant. "I said and did some really stupid things, and I just wanted to apologize for that. Apologize for how I've treated you…" She trailed off as her chest started to clench and she worked to fight back tears that were trying to rise to the surface.

Lauren took a deep breath.

"I owe you an apology too Bo." The brunette looked up at her questioningly, she had no idea what the blonde felt she needed to apologize for. "I retreated into myself. I stopped sharing my feelings with you. I should have let you in, but I built up my walls and reinforced them with steel. I never should have done that. Not with you." The blonde looked down and began to poke her food with her fork.

"I understand Lauren. We all have our ways of dealing with things. I should have pushed. I should have begged you to let me in. Instead I just got mad, and threw myself into a self-destructive spiral." Bo was now pushing an artisanal carrot across the plate.

"That's the thing. I pushed you away. I asked for a break because I thought maybe we were getting too close. I was worried that neither of us could grow from the incident if we kept clinging to one another, and if we kept mentally pushing the other away, but physically holding on for dear life… but I didn't even do that right."

Bo allowed a single tear to drop down her cheek.

"I don't understand. What do you mean you didn't do that right?"

Lauren let out a humorless laugh and shook her head.

"What I thought we needed was time a part to individually assess and grow, but I kept you under my roof like a prisoner."

Bo tilted her head to the side; she had never looked at it that way before.

"I am such a control freak," Lauren continued, "I needed to let you go but I couldn't loose you. I should have let you leave those times you told me you were going to move out. I was just so terrified that if I let you leave, you'd never come back."

Bo raised her eyes, trying to catch Lauren's with hers. When the blonde continued to stare down at her meal, Bo reached a hand out and lifted her chin so that Lauren's eyes met her own.

"I would always come back to you."

The women sat there in silence for a moment. Each one on the brink of tears; just staring into one another's eyes, trying desperately to heal the other's heartbreak though their stare.

"Would you ladies like any desert this evening?" The waiter's voice sounded to their left snapping the women out of their daze causing Lauren to jerk away from Bo's touch.

"Butt out French fry!" Bo shouted slamming her fists onto the table.

"Bo!" Lauren said in a startled tone. She gave Bo a confused and astonished look before turning to the waiter. "Just the check please." She said giving the man a small apologetic smile. When she turned back to Bo the brunette was running a hand through her long brown hair still visibly shaken.

"Bo?" Lauren questioned as the brunette reached the end of her hair and shoved her hand forcefully through her locks again. "Bo." Lauren said again placing her hand on the brunette's hand that was clutching at the tablecloth.

As soon as Lauren's skin met her own Bo was pulled out of her daze, and visibly calmed under her touch.

"Sorry." She exhaled. "That guy was getting on my nerves all night."

Lauren gave her a smile.

"You barely touched your food, were you thinking burgers instead?" Lauren asked trying to relieve some of the tension.

Bo gave her a puzzled look.

"Well you did just call the guy french fry." She said smirking.

Bo looked at her and then turned red.

"I did, didn't I?" She asked as she too began to chuckle. Lauren just nodded. "I have been spending entirely too much time with my sister." This remark caused the blonde to snort and then cover her mouth with her hand, making Bo laugh even harder.

The two had finally finished their meal and left the restaurant, Lauren had made sure to give the waiter a decent tip as he had made himself quite scarce after Bo's outburst.

As the car came to a stop in Bo's usual parking space in the underground garage she rushed again around to Lauren's side of the car opening the door for her.

"Thank you for the lovely evening." Lauren said as she allowed herself to take Bo's arm that was waiting outstretched for her.

"I think it is I that should be thanking you." Bo said, "for the dinner and the company." Lauren smiled brightly.

"Well, it was a special occasion. It's not every day you get an Assistant Research job with the Folklore and Occult Studies program in one of Connecticut's leading liberal arts schools." She gave the brunette a wink causing Bo to flush slightly around the collar.

They rode up the elevator in silence, and as they reached the door, Bo pushed her keys into the lock.

Bo opened the door for Lauren leading her into the dark condo. As Bo turned and relocked the door behind her she flicked on a single light.

"May I walk you to your door?" She asked. Lauren chuckled.

"I think you already did that, seeing as how my door is your door."

"Not entirely." Bo stated as she held her arm out for Lauren yet again. Lauren just shook her head and gently grabbed the inside of Bo's elbow as she allowed the brunette to guide her through the condo, down the hall, and up to her bedroom door.

When they reached the door Lauren allowed her hand to drop from Bo's arm, and Bo turned to her giving off one of her signature dimpled grins.

"So, I had a really good time tonight." Bo said. She knew that they still had so much to resolve but she couldn't help the desire that was growing in her to lean in and kiss the beautiful woman in front of her.

Lauren just smiled back at her.

"I had a really lovely evening as well." She nodded toward the brunette sensing the tension between.

"I'd really like to do it again sometime." Bo began to fidget with her hands. Lauren just nodded back at her almost shyly. "Maybe sooner rather than later." She added hopefully.

Lauren looked up to meet Bo's eyes.

"I would really like that."

Bo grinned back at her.

"So I'll text you?" She couldn't believe how foolish she sounded. She slept in a room fifty feet away from the blonde and here she was asking for permission to text her.

Lauren rolled her eyes to the ceiling before smiling awkwardly.

"Please do."

Bo reached an arm up and scratched at the back of her head.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, probably?" Bo said, at a loss for how exactly to end the evening when every cell in her body was screaming at her to just lean forward and kiss the woman in front of her.

"It's pretty much inevitable." Lauren laughed; Bo had never been good at small talk.

Lauren reached her hand out to rest on her doorknob. She held for a moment, and then turned the knob pushing the door open.

"Good night Bo." Lauren smiled as she turned to head into her room.

"Lauren, wait." Bo said frantically as she reached out and grabbed a cool steel arm, she twisted the blonde back toward her and gently leaned in allowing her lips to lightly brush against Lauren's. She waited for a moment, holding herself in place, and when she was not met by any resistance from the blonde she pushed in deepening the kiss.

It couldn't have lasted more than a couple of seconds but when Lauren finally pulled away Bo felt as though she had just been shock with an electric charge.

"Good night Lauren." Bo whispered as the blonde smiled at her and moved into her room closing the door behind her.

Bo raised a hand to her lip, touching the spot where Lauren's had been just moments before. She smiled as she practically floated down the hall, closing her own bedroom door behind her, and falling into bed in a state of pure bliss.

Lauren had just closed the door on the brunette, and she sighed as she leaned her back against the cool wooden door. She heaved out a heavy sigh and sucked her lower lip into her mouth, biting it gently. She groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut, allowing her head to slam back against the door.

She was in trouble again, and she knew it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: I hope this chapter was okay. I've been a bit under the weather for the past week, so I wrote this in a partial NyQuil daze. =P**_

_**I want to thank all of you for your awesome response to this fic! Thank you for all of the follows, faves, and reviews! See, I told you doccubus was endgame, you just have to bare with me. ;)**_


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